*Images with asterisks* and text below in italics from The Official Transformers web site:OPTIMUS PRIME is carrying the mighty Star Saber and is ready to take on the PREDACON threat!

PREDACONS beware, because this OPTIMUS PRIME figure is as mighty as they come and he’s armed with the best. His Thunder Lance and launcher give him the long-distance firepower to hit his enemies from afar. But he carries the mighty Star Saber and that means no PREDACON better try to stop him! Convert him to truck mode when he needs to bash through whatever’s in his path. Keep converting him back and forth so his enemies can’t keep up!

With the Predacons hot on the heels of the Autobots, they have armored up and taken on new weaponry.

Robot Mode:
The "Beast Hunters" television show hasn't aired yet, but early images from the Official Transformers web site show a CG rendering of Optimus Prime (the link may be gone by the time you read this). The rendering indicates that Optimus has changed his armor significantly. He has a lot more angled and jagged edges. He's les blocky and thin. Instead he looks thicker, bulkier and even iconic elements such as the windows on his chest are a different shape. He's still recognizable as "an" Optimus Prime, but he's definitely not the same exact character seen in the first two seasons of the television show.

Cyberverse figures are often, at best, a simplified interpretation of the CG model. Such is the case with the Commander Class Beast Hunters Optimus Prime figure. Several of the design elements on this figure differ from the CG rendering including:

The figure has two of the vehicle mode's rather large wheels on the shoulders instead of just having the angled shoulder armor of the CG model.

The waist area has the "claw" like armor detail that is part of the vehicle mode, but it doesn't show on the CG model's waist.

The smokestacks on the figure are on the forearms, whereas on the CG model they are on the back.

Parts of the vehicle mode's rear section wrap around the front of the legs, but no such details appear on the legs in the CG model.

All that said, there are many elements that do come from the CG model. This includes layered, angled armor on the lower legs, wheels on the sides of the legs, curved forearms and angled armor on the shoulders (though they are more focused on the insides). The chest has wide, angled windows that are reminscent of those on past "Primes" such as Star Convoy and Galaxy Convoy. His head has angled antennae on the sides and his crest seems much higher than the Prime from the previous years. Like the CG model, he is armed with the Star Saber, though proportionally speaking the sword here is smaller than in the rendering.

Not surprisingly, Optimus Prime is cast in red, blue, silver and black plastic. The red forms his chest and arms. The blue forms his lower legs. The silver is used for the parts in between such as the elbows and thighs. Black is, as you'd expect, used for his wheels as well as his feet. Paint details are largely done in silver, with smaller ones in blue and yellow. The silver fills out a surprising amount of detail such as his crest, mouthplate, forearms, edges around his windows and the center of his torso. On his left shoulder is a silver Autobot symbol, tiny enough that I'm impressed how sharp it is. Yellow is used on smaller details such as his headlights, which all face front here. Finally, his eyes are painted light blue. Again the details are small enough to be quite impressive. I really appreciate how much effort was put into the deco on this figure, it looks great.

Optimus Prime has eleven points of articulation in this form. This includes ball joints on his shoulders, elbows and hips. His feet can move too, a function of his transformation. I mentioned his Star Saber weapon earlier, but he also has a "marble" missile launcher. He holds the launcher, then you press the missile in the back and once enough pressure builds the missile launches. It's also used as a lance weapon according to the description on the packaging, and it's long enough to be just that so it's pretty creative!

Transformation to Vehicle Mode:

Detach the weapons and set them aside for now.

Swing the robot feet down.

Swing the robot chest up.

Rotate around the section with the robot arms and head attached to it.

Swing the robot head back.

Rotate the forearms around, then fold it against the shoulder armor so the smokestacks are facing outward.

Push the arms up and together to form the front part of the vehicle.

On each leg, swing up the "cage" halves.

Connect the legs and cage halves together.

Swing the hip section forward, bringing the leg sections up against the robot arms, condensing the vehicle.

Each weapon can attach to one of the holes on the sides of the "cage".

Vehicle Mode:
Optimus Prime's truck mode carries themes over from some of the other Beast Hunters figures that have been released so far. These themes include a more savage and bulky appearance. Instead of "bird themed" details like those on Bumblebee and Wheeljack. Instead, he just looks like a truck out of a survivalist's dream complete with gigantic wheels, a claw/cage protecting the front of the vehicle and a cage in the back. Add to that weapons attached to the sides and this is not a truck you want to mess with! He looks awesome, though without any pictures of how the CG model looks it's hard to say how "Show Accurate" he is.

Optimus' colors all carry over here, but now we get some more silver paint on the sides of the wheels (a detail not seen often nowadays, so it's quite welcome) and the smokestacks on the sides. The windows on the front and sides are painted black, and now you get a better look at the smaller silver details in the front such as those on the sideview mirrors. It's really a fantastic paint job given the scale of the figure.

All six wheels on this truck roll. His "cage" section allows weapons to attach to the sides, but you could also attach weapons to the bottom of his robot fists, which are right behind the cab section.

Final Thoughts:
When I first saw pictures of this figure I wasn't fond of it, mostly because of the very bulky proportions and the tiny head. However, it seems the exaggerated proportions are part of the design of this character now and the bulky parts actually work for the figure instead of against it. However, your mileage will vary. If you want a CG model accurate Optimus Prime, one of the larger figures will be more suitable for your collection. For a fun small scale figure however, I really dig this guy. Recommended!